Glenside, PA – After seeing a double-digit first-half lead turn into a deficit, Messiah College dominated the second-half over Arcadia to win 70-53. The Falcons outscored the Knights 39-24 after the intermission.
 
The win moved Messiah to 11-3 in the Commonwealth Conference, and 15-6 overall. Arcadia fell to 4-9 in the conference and an even 10-10 on the season.
 
The Falcons' strong play after the break salvaged a first-half that included both a 15-point lead and a five-point deficit—in that order. Messiah controlled the start of the game, with five players contributing to a 19-4 advantage with 10:26 on the clock. Arcadia struggled to keep pace, starting the game 2-15 from the field with six turnovers.
 
For many in the stands, the 19-4 start for Messiah must have reminded them of the last time these two teams met; Messiah took a 19-5 lead over Arcadia earlier this season en route to a 58-42 win.
 
However, on this afternoon the Knights recovered from their early woes. Trailing 21-6 under 10 minutes to play, Arcadia ran off 13-straight points in less than four minutes. Messiah's struggled to answer over that stretch, missing seven-straight shots.
 
Chelsea Danel ended the Knights' streak with a driving finish on the right side to put Messiah up 23-19, but Arcadia wasn't finished. Now with less than five minutes on the clock a layup by Victoria Mazzeo trimmed Messiah's lead to 23-22. On the Knights' next two possessions Maureen Fiocca and Hassinger each hit from behind the arc to put Arcadia on top 28-23.
 
The five-point lead completed a 24-4 run by Arcadia. Fortunately for Messiah, it would be the Knights' largest lead of the game as the Falcons soon tied the game once more and even took a two-point lead into halftime, 31-29.
 
The second-half started much like the first, with Messiah jumping all over the Knights to build a lead. Taylor Miller, who was held to just four points in the first-half, scored five quick points on the Falcons' first two possessions to give the visitors a 36-29 lead. Moments later a three-poitner from Hannah Nichols put Messiah up 41-33 with 16:35 to play.
 
Soon leading 41-35, Danel hit a jumper and then assisted Gillian Glackin for a bucket in transition to start a 13-0 run that put Messiah completely in control. Sienna Wisse hit a three-pointer and finished on the left block at the end of that run as Messiah's defense again shut down the Knights.
 
"We wanted to pressure on the perimeter, especially when their bigs had it out there," head coach Mike Miller said, commenting on his message to the Falcons at halftime. "We didn't need to make an adjustment as much as fix what we weren't doing a good job of in the first-half. I just told our girls that we were in good shape and let's go get after them."
 
The Falcons did just that. A free-throw by Wisse with 10:15 to play put them up 57-36—their largest lead of the game—as they led comfortably the rest of the way and won 70-53.
 
After turning the ball over 12 times in the first-half Arcadia did give it away just eight more times after the break, but Messiah still finished with a 26-9 advantage in points off turnovers. That surely contributed to the Falcons' big runs as they also scored at least 70 points for the third time in the past five games.
 
Miller led the Falcons with 16 points (12 in the second-half) with Danel adding 14 points and five assists. Wisse finished with 13 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench for Messiah. Katelynn Vanderhoff and Glackin each grabbed a team-high six rebounds and, like Emily Martz, also finished with six points.
 
Valerie DiMuro led the Knights with 14 points. Mazzeo joined her in double-figures with 10 points. Hassinger scored nine points and grabbed a game-high seven boards.
 
The Messiah win, coupled with Elizabethtown's loss to Alvernia this afternoon, puts them in first place in the Commonwealth at 11-3. Messiah will look to push their current win streak to eight games when they host Stevenson University on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 6:00 p.m.